More than just Yoga: Wanderlust a feast for the senses

The sixth-annual Wanderlust Festival in Squaw Valley that commenced earlier this week with a yoga teacher-training course is more than just a weekend filled with yoga classes, flexible students and sweaty mats.

Jeff Krasno, co-founder of Wanderlust, even goes as far to call it a "gateway drug" for yoga.

Somewhere in between the Standup Paddle Board yoga classes and the High Camp pool parties and roller-rink discos at 8,200 feet, a festival-goer might discover that there's more to yoga than the poses.

It's a lifestyle.

"When we began the event we were just very focused on bringing in the yoga teachers and providing a lot of yoga classes in conjunction with music and nature," Krasno said. "As we grew and the event became more stable, we got the opportunity to be more creative and add more of what we think is going to be yoga lifestyle things that are interesting and going to be compelling to yogis that aren't just about practice."

The festival includes lectures on topics that pertain to the mindful life, Namaste rafting, meditation hikes and farm-to-table dinners hosted at Squaw Valley's High Camp.

"Our hope is that it can be the most fun you can possibly have while doing something that's good for yourself," Krasno said. "My hope is that people come here and discover some sort of little gem of wisdom or bit of inspiration that they can take back into their home community and really live a better and happier life, a more inspired life."

Wanderlust hosts festivals at 17 venues worldwide, including festivals in British Colombia, New Zealand and Hawaii. Squaw Valley was the first festival and remains the largest in terms of attendees and scope.

"At it's greatest potential, Wanderlust can be transformational for people and on the most humble level at least it can be a whole lot of fun for people."

Melissa Martinez-Chauvin is a Reno yoga instructor at The Studio and is teaching for her second consecutive year at the Wanderlust Festival.

Martinez-Chauvin has attended Wanderlust for the past four years, although this year's experience will be a little different. She and her husband, Daniyel, had their

first child, Jai Bodhi, in May and the festival marks her return to teaching yoga classes.

"Of course it crosses my mom that I've been doing mom-asana for six weeks straight and now I'm about to jump into a festival, it definitely crosses my mind," Martinez-Chauvin said. "For me it's just about being present, connecting with people. It's not about demonstrating, it's about inspiring and I think that (having a baby) in and of itself can be inspiring and that women can still feel powerful in any stage in life and I felt it was something I could show up for and just be myself."

Martinez-Chauvin taught a yoga class on Thursday afternoon at the festival and is teaching a class today called "Ujjayi Breathing & Your Heart Beating" at 2 p.m. A live DJ accompanies the class, which Martinez describes as a fun, yoga, and dance party.

Her classes offer a Bhakti Flow type practice, which includes chanting and Martinez-Chauvin credits Wanderlust for one of the reasons that she transitioned from teaching Bikram yoga to the type of classes she leads today.

"Wanderlust actually opened my eyes and blew my doors off," she said. "You can approach the practice from all these different perspectives and it really opened my eyes and that sent me further into the studentship and I went into some different trainings and I just ended up traveling and going to trainings for a few years."

Wanderlust is geared to provide an enlightening experience for both the beginning yogi and the advanced. While one class is beating to the drum of Beastie Boy jams, another is using nature's tunes for a sunset meditation hike.

"We consciously tried to push a more beginner and all-level program," Krasno said. "There are plenty of those. We have the Yoga for Dudes series. There are places where men can go and not feel completely unworthy and intimidated. We're definitely trying to make it open and offer something for everyone."

Live music performances go late into Friday and Saturday night and tickets for the festival can be purchased at the door or at http://squaw.wanderlustfestival.com/.